WASHINGTON -- The Concord Coalition emphasized today that estimates the
Social Security trust funds will be solvent until 2034 are irrelevant from an
economic standpoint. In fact, the Social Security Trustees' report released
today indicates that the long-term financial problems facing the program remain
virtually unchanged from last year.

"Two more years of trust fund solvency does not mean it will be any
easier for future taxpayers to afford the projected cost of the program.
Today's report of the Social Security Trustees provides no reason to delay
necessary reform efforts," said Concord Coalition Policy Director Robert Bixby.
"Despite some of the optimistic rhetoric, we are basically treading water."

According to the Social Security Trustees, the program will begin
running cash deficits in 2014 -- one year later than the last year's projection
of 2013. The new projections show that Social Security's annual cash deficit
will rise from $35 billion in 2015 to $904 billion in 2035 -- long-term
projections nearly identical to those made by the Trustees in their 1998
report. All of the structural and demographic problems that have been discussed
by experts, politicians, and citizens remain in place and still must be
addressed.

SOCIAL SECURITY ANNUAL DEFICIT PROJECTIONS
(in billions of dollars)

2015

2020

2025

2030

2035

2040

1999 projection in billions of dollars

- 35

- 200

- 420

- 666

- 904

- 1,116

1999 projection in inflation-adjusted 1999 dollars

- 22

- 105

- 188

- 253

- 292

- 306

1998 projection in billions of dollars

- 49

- 214

- 433

- 684

- 925

- 1,147

1998 projection in inflation-adjusted 1999 dollars

- 29

- 107

- 183

- 243

- 276

- 289

"The Social Security Trustees, the Office of Management and Budget, and
the Congressional Budget Office all agree that the IOUs in the trust
fund do
nothing to improve the Treasury's ability to actually pay benefits once
the
system begins running a cash deficit," said Bixby. "At that point,
Social
Security's obligations can only be met through tax increases, benefit
cuts, or
more borrowing from the public -- exactly the same ways those
obligations would
be met if the trust fund didn't exist."

Concord also expressed caution about the news that the Medicare Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund will remain solvent until 2015. "While the Trustees
reported real improvement in Medicare's finances, it is not yet clear whether
the sudden drop in Medicare inflation is an aberration or a permanent
improvement," said Bixby. "The bottom line is that the program remains
unsustainable in its current form."